– Hey, click that “like” button. It takes half a second and helps increase awareness for the best wrestling show in the world. It also helps justify me keeping the column going to my bosses, and … well, a big number looks nice.

– This is the third episode from the set of tapings I attended live. I’ve got a weird perspective on these episodes that makes me 100% not pay attention to anything the announcers are saying, so if Regal quoted The Smiths to ice burn Alex Riley or whatever, I probably missed it.

Please click through for the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for August 15, 2013.

Join The Discussion

I always wanted to ask you Brandon. Is NXT better live or on HULU? I’m a Full Sail student and want to take my son to the shows so he can get in the habit of making him love wrestling as much as I did when I was a kid.

I thought Woods looked better than both Graves and Neville in the main event. Then again, my 54 year old dad looks more impressive than Graves, and has more charisma than Neville.Maybe it’s not that hard to look better than them.

Bayley is my religion. Also, so excited for next week – this better be as good as it’s been built up to be.

when woods is waiting on the apron with his arm spread to tag in, he keeps on talking and he is kinda entertaining and making the waiting bearable. and when he’s in the ring, he’s firing on all cylinders and attacking rollins non-stop and isn’t making those “I can’t believe he wasn’t pinned ! that was a 3, ref !” faces.

bayley and woods are 2 of my favourite in NXT. I was baffled when brandon gave them worsts for their first appearances but he had legitmate reasons for it. I’m just happy that he’s warming up to bayley now and I hope he forgets about woods’s past in TNA and enjoy him, too, in the future :)

– I’m surprised you didn’t put a little more focus on that evil heel Emma jumping the defenseless Summer Rae after she was laid out in the ring. Bad, NXT, bad! I still think the show is much, much better than RAW/SD, but it is clear that some of the main shows’ more annoying aspects are slowly leaking into NXT.

– Here’s to hoping Bayley eventually picks up a win on NXT, though it obviously won’t be next week. She’s a good worker and would be even cuter if she fixed her hair. But of course, it’s all in the gimmick. (I do like how the anxious, shy woman wrestler has slightly bigger arms than half the division.)

– Announcer talk: Tony Dawson is still way too excitable and the ring announcer is still absolutely terrible. Learn some pacing and put some cadence in your voice!

– Liked the Mason Ryan commentary. He’s just…boring and it’s really time for WWE to understand that giant muscles do not equal being over. You would have thought that they would have figured that out after Ryback comes out all muscley and yet can hardly pick up Paul Heyman. It just makes the way they’ve treated Cesaro all the more frustrating/puzzling.

– And on Cesaro, I’m game for next week. Him and Zayn are killing it on promos for this feud! Renee also helps a ton! I have no idea why they don’t just let Cesaro come out in his Bison cosplay and say outlandish things. It would, along with his legit shows of strength, get him over way more than his current heatless, offensive gimmick.

I’m all down for the last part of this. Cesaro needs a fortress in the Alps. He needs to stress that he’s a Swiss Superman, a foreign superpower with his own army and a utopian society that never gets involved in wars because they’re above the petty concerns of other nations. He needs to come out with his beret and with more elaborate Bison-esque wardrobe, possibly up to a cape. He needs to stick with delivery like “I am the Boss…OF THE WORLD!” and “ZAAAAAAAAYN!” rather than “We the People”. Give him some lesser heels to serve as his Sub-bosses, and make him a leader of an international World Warriors stable.

For you, it was the greatest WWE match of the decade. For Antonio, it was Wednesday.

I didn’t really mind that emma “jumped summer rae from behind for revenge” as much as like brandon said “she was ok but didn’t get the shot at the title”

I like paige’s finisher a lot ! and I like its name even more !! it matches the move perfectly.

tony dawson is OK in my book. not good. nor bad.

you shouldn’t compare mason ryan to ryback. ryback f*cked up a lot of times but he’s legitmately strong and he’s showing it lately. although he’s not nearly as strong as SUPER strong guys in the wwe are (like cesaro and cena)

Yeah Ryback is a genuine really strong guy, you can hardly take that away from him. I just don t really understand why we need people like Mason Ryan though, if you want a really big impressive looking guy to throw people around, what exactly is wrong with Langston? He looks amazing, is genuinely strong, great in the ring and really charismatic.

It’s more boring than terrible. It doesn’t make much sound when she and her opponent hit the ground. Paige is supposed to be this really intense chick so she should have a more impactful finisher.

She should also get rid of those terrible corner elbows (the audience became a mixture of confused and quiet when she did it (I’m reminded of that meme of the excited guys becoming unexcited by whatever is in the middle panel)).

I actually like both the corner elbows (although not as much as the knees to the face between the ropes) and the finisher ! I don’t know why you guys don’t like that finisher. it looks really cool and in kayfabe should take out your freakin’ neck.

It looked really good when she debuted it. I think it was against Sasha Banks. The thing is the person taking the move needs to take a high-angle shoulder bump instead of a flat back bump. Just watch some youtube videos of Masato Yoshino doing the Lightning Spiral.

I don’t know man. Even watching videos of those Japanese guys doing the move does little for me. I just think it’s too slow a move for Paige to do. She needs a finisher like Big Show’s WMD, a jaw breaker of a move that comes out lightning fast and sounds like it hits like brick. It’d solve the selling issue at least (even if Paige starts doing the Lightning Spiral well (Paige Turner is such a dumb name) most of her opponents still don’t seem to know how to take it).

Paige’s corner elbows look less like an attack than they do a fidgety toddler.

I agree that Paige would probably be better off with some kind of a stiff, striking type finisher. She just seems that type of wrestler. She has that awesome kick she sometimes does, those knees to the opponents head while she’s on the apron are glorious, and even though those elbows are mostly a miss, I think all that says how she’s mostly a striking based wrestler, a brawler, bruiser or whatever. She does other things well, and it’s good that they don’t confine her to a single wrestling style, because she’s good enough to be an all-round performer, but it always seems to me when she just gets to hit someone hard she’s at her best, it just fits the most with her persona as well, I think.

So yeah, all I’m saying, if you’re seriously gonna release Ohno because of stubborn belly fat or whatever (don’t do that), give her the rolling elbow or that sweet rolling big boot/knee he does. In any case, I think she could use a striking based finisher.

you get the best match WWE’s produced this decade between Antonio Cesaro and Sami Zayn

Brandon, this is a question for you and the with leather wrestlefamily: how much does venue and impact of the match have on your rating of it? I know you’re being hyperbolic (because THAT’S WHAT YOU DO along with splitting wigs of ignorant wrestling fans) but it’s hard for me to rate anything higher than Punk/Cena at MITB because of a nuclear crowd, Punk being made into a star, and a great match. I loved Richards/Edwards at BITW ’11 (as much as I’ve grown tired of Davey Richards in the interim) and still do. But part of what pushes MITB over the top is the bigger, hotter crowd. To put what I’m asking in a hypothetical: if Daniel Bryan and John Cena wrestle a match that isn’t as good as Zayn/Cesaro but close to it in front of a nuclear crowd where Daniel Bryan goes over would you still see Zayn/Cesaro as the better match?

I’m not saying it’s not and I’m jazzed to watch it, I was just curious about the opinions of you and the other posters in the with leather discussions about wrestling and tastes in terms of intangibles.

I suggest you ask this question again next week, once we’ve all had a chance to watch Cesaro/Zayn 2-out-of-3 falls and formulate a rudimentary comparison.

Though, since you’ve asked, I’d probably go for MITB ’11 over Cesaro/Zayn (for now). Zayn and Cesaro have been doing absolutely fantastic work on the mic and in the ring, but it isn’t defining moment material. It’s like when Brandon compared watching Wrestlemania vs King of Trios: KOT is better in every way, but you can’t talk to someone on a plane about it. Cesaro/Zayn will probably be a fantastic match (everyone’s said it is), but MITB ’11 is a fantastic, unforgettable event.

I don’t actually take that money in the bank main event in 2011 as the best match in recent memory like everyone else, actually. I remember punk alone botched like 3 times in it … and cena’s performing of his submission finisher always angers me.

I’m by no means are saying that it’s not THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT GREAT ! just not “unbeatable” in match quality !

For my part, the event, the hype, and the crowd are huge. I can’t really separate my enjoyment of a match on its own merits from the atmosphere it’s presented in. The build is a major component as it feeds into every bit of the action, and the crowd reaction makes that action seem that much more important. I’m having this match built up by Brandon’s reviews and by the grand promos on display here, so I’m definitely checking out next week’s show as soon as it’s up.

I think the crowd can play a huge part on how exciting a match is, but if the NXT crowd during the Bo Dallas/Leo Kruger match is anything to judge by, I m sure the crowd will be amazing for the Cesaro/Zayn match, more than leveling the playing field so it can compete with MITB purely on wrestling quality.

You have done an excellent job of getting me ridiculously excited for next week. Hulu should be giving you a bonus.
Big E needs to turn face on WWE programming. He is SO OVER with the Full Sail crowd and he is so naturally personable on twitter and in interviews. Plus if they let him do his 5 count thing it definitely has the chance to catch on with the kiddies.

the thing for me is, right now, I can’t handle anyone breaking AJ’s heart or even getting near to it ever again ! I can’t handle it ! I’ll forever hate it for no reason and will never recover from it even after years ! 5 guys already ? f*ck wwe for that.

THAT’S WHY : “if” they’re turning big E but keeping AJ as a heel (and they should), they should just separate them slowly and let it fade in without anyone (I’m looking in your way, every wwe announcer on the main roster) even coming close to mentioning it. they should reach one day where everyone forgets about it and they don’t even mention that they walked their own paths again. and leave it open that they’d enteract again.

Man, I was suffering withdrawal from a lack of great Shield matches on Raw these days. Thankfully NXT is here to deliver my fix.

And oh my god I want super villain Cesaro on Raw so bad. He was only on screen for like 20 seconds and stole the show for me. I can t decide what I loved more, claiming he s the boss of the world (Whatever the fuck that means) or the screaming of Zayn s name at the end. I am so excited for their match now.

This week, backstage segments stole the limelight from the matches. Bayley creeping out AJ LEE of all people was a joy to behold, and the Boss of the World yelling out ZAYYYYYYYYYYYNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! after their scuffle… wow.

I like the Paige Turner, but Paige needs to build up to it better. As it stands, she just does it. Even one of her yells will be enough to let fans know it’s coming.

While overshadowed by Bailey freaking out AJ, I think Zayn’s backstage segment was great because he addressed his heritage in such a matter of fact/what’s the big deal manner and then took things straight back to wrestling. Seeing a fan favourite telling the audience to rise above race and focus on wrestling in such a straightfoward way was refreshing in the WWE and should be the norm rather than the exception.
I shudder to think what would happen if Cena visited NXT. He’d probably tell Sami to ride off home on his camel and then throw fish and chips at Mason Ryan.
Actually, I’m okay with that last part.

The ring apron gets messed up. Paul’s standing right in front of it, so the crowd chants for him to fix it. He turns and yells I DON’T WORK FOR YOUUUUU and the crowd pops huge, and the chant starts, because he’s awesome.

I’m pretty sure that guy who now makes one half of the new Ascension has that as a finisher. Seriously, I was searching through NXT profiles months ago, and it said “Psycho Crusher” as his signature move. But when I checked it on YouTube, all I could say was: “Naaah, Cesaro does better better uppercuts in his sleep than that, let him have the “Psycho Crusher” moniker”, so I guess I kinda agree with you on that.

So wait, it feels you’re selling next week’s show as if the greatest thing ever. Am I getting my hopes up thinking Zayn might bust out a certain old move of his? Because, if that’s the case, ho-ly fuck-ing SHIT!

I have yet to watch this and last week’s NXT episodes (I’m about to check out the last week’s out when I finish this comment), but all I wanted to say is DAMN I don’t think I was ever pumped to see a wrestling match more than I am for Cesaro vs Zayn: The (hopefully not really) Final Showdown next week. I was eager to see it ever since JR posted on a praise of the match on his twitter and since then, quite a few people in wrestling, both actual people from WWE such as Michael Cole and “Internet Guys” such as Brandon himself raved about the greatness of the match, making the anticipation unbearable. As if all that wasn’t enough, I read this weeks review and BOOM! Cesaro and Zayn are now also responsible for what will definitely end up being one of my favorite backstage segments of all time when I see it on the show. Cesaro being “Boss of the World” and the ultimate villain, Zayn talking about being Arabic while not playing a terrorist gimmick, oh my!

wearing a mask can be a double edged sword, for some it hides their faces if they can’t do the little things that someone like say Regal or Ambrose can to emphasize moves and promos, but for others it becomes a crutch that can be hard to let go if you have the natural talent like Zayn appears to have.

I don’t think that was a botch from batista there … they seemed to have planned for it and for all that came after it. it’s just that kane, unlike other small wrestlers, can’t get left up for a powerbomb and then hop over the head and land behind the guy …

also, I like the set up for woods’s finisher. and I think it adds more IMPACT to it.

I was thinking the same thing about Batista actually. Usually after a botch everyone stands around awkwardly for a second or two or instantly try to redo a spot, that just instantly went into a low blow like it was intended, so either it wasn t a botch or some fantastic improvisation on the part of Kane.

1) Don’t get me wrong, I love Paige (I called dibbs on her a lonnnng time ago), but, is it just me or has Paige regressed a little? She seems slower and stiff out there. And when I say stiff, I mean more like tense and uptight, not she’s legit hitting anyone. She had a charisma about her in the ring that she has seem to have lost over the past few months. She’s still awesome but not quite the diva I know and love to watch crack skulls. Her offense used to seem more impactful and diverse than the match she displayed with Summer Rae. Anyone know if there’s anything going on?

2) I think Xavier Woods needs to drop the Apollo Creed part of his gimmick and his James Brown music and stick with his nerdy 90’s pop culture stuff. I think he has too many gimmicks rolled into one right now. (It’d also be radical if he’d do the proper pose for when it’s Morphin Time).

3) Aside from being paired with Graves, I think Neville’s problem connecting with the audience is his shitty and dated emo theme song and his grey attire. That’s an unholy trinity of suckiness before the guy has even stepped into the ring!

4) Antonio Cesaro as M. Bison is incredible and I cannot wait for the best 2/3 match next week. EEEEEEEEEEEK!

1. Every time I see Divas fighting in these NXT clips, I’m thoroughly impressed and wonder where the hell all of these moves go once they move up to Raw.
2. *rewatches Cesaro slamming that Morishima guy 1000 times* WHAT THE FUCK WWE? HOW CAN YOU HAVE A GUY THAT STRONG AND TALENTED AND NOT AT LEAST TRY TO MAKE HIM SEEM LIKE A THREAT?

Cesaro would make a hell of a WWE Champion. Form a group called “World Wrestling Council” or something like that and have him dominate as the Boss of the World. I could think of 6 people that should be in that stable right now.

This week’s NXT just reinstilled my faith in the show after what seemed like a long streak of subpar shows. Cesaro’s “ZAAAAAAAAAAAYN!” yell is now my favorite moment of NXT this year and one of my favorites in all of pro wrestling. So perfect.